Ferlazzo elected as speaker
Published Feb. 20, 2004
At Wednesday night's Missouri Students Association meeting, Senate Clerk Damon Ferlazzo was elected Speaker of the Senate.
Ferlazzo ran uncontested, but a vote of confidence was required.
Outgoing Speaker Jon Hensley said he wasn't surprised that Ferlazzo ran unopposed.
"Luckily for the students, Damon is exceptionally well-qualified and has a track record of excellence in MSA," he said. "Our styles and campus interests are different, but we share a sense of what is right for our campus and a desire to truly know the opinions of the students we represent."
Hensley said he is proud to have led the Senate through the past year.
"We got off to a rough start with a (MSA) lawsuit before my term could begin," he said. "Once we got beyond that controversy, we were really able to begin the work of reconnecting with the students rather than focusing most of our energy to changing small points of Senatorial procedure."
MSA President Brian Laoruangroch said he couldn't be happier about Ferlazzo's election because Ferlazzo puts so much time into MSA and "genuinely cares about this organization."
"As fun as last year was with four speaker candidates, Damon running uncontested speaks to the respect he has within the Senate," said Josh Judy, Academic Affairs Committee chairman.
Ferlazzo said he is ecstatic to have been elected speaker.
"It's great to know the senators have put their faith in me.," he said.
Ferlazzo said he hopes to make the Senate more social.
"I don't want the Senate to continue to be a soapbox for 10 of us," he said. "I want to hear other ideas the senators have."
After the election, the Senate passed two bills. The first transferred $2,000 from the contingency and reserve fund to the Wellness Resource Center, to fund the off-campus housing fair that took place Wednesday.
With the second bill, senators agreed to present a resolution to the Faculty Council and deans of the schools suggesting that professors use mid-year evaluations.
"We hope that since they will all know that the students are in favor of mid-semester evaluations, faculty will start using them more," Judy said. "Most students don't get to give their professor feedback until after the semester is over. The university has evaluations available that the professor can give to students during the semester so the instructor can improve their teaching and address student concerns."
Ferlazzo said the Senate cannot force faculty to use the evaluations.
"All we can do is say students want this," he said.
Laoruangroch told the Senate he is looking into expanding hours of computer lab availability across campus.
"This is still in the planning stage, but this is something that has come up over and over when I've talked to students," he said.
Laoruangroch said he is proposing to keep the Hitt Street computer lab open 24 hours and having one or two other labs open earlier on weekend mornings. Currently, the Hitt Street lab is open until 4 a.m.
He said he would also like to implement a common hour for students that could be used for daytime meetings and speakers.
"I'm putting forth a resolution at the next Senate meeting," he said. "We would have to work the exact time out with registration and this would probably go into effect next spring.